How we live today was shaped in the past over the course of our long history and the outcomes of various events. Had we lost World War Two life now would be very different indeed.If Winston Churchill had not become our Prime Minister at such a vital time and instead the Nazi appeaser, Lord Halifax, he would have made a peace deal with Hitler who wo...
Initial article on The Bow Group By Robert Oulds and Dr Niall McCrae "You'll own nothing, and you'll be happy" (World Economic Forum, 18 November 2016). Covid-19 is a crisis too good to waste for UN agencies and other transnational bodies. The coronavirus pandemic has led to governments around the world signing up to the 'Great Reset' designe...
President Trump will win big since Republican voters are super energised and are turning out in massive numbers to vote for him, on the other hand Democrat voters are not enthused by the incompetent and senile 'Sleepy' Joe Biden. The polls that predict Biden is winning the US election so far, which is already underway, assume that there's...
Link to the full paper by the Centre for Brexit Studies By The Rt. Hon. Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP (Conservative Party MP), Martin Howe QC (Intellectual Property and EU Law; Chairman of Lawyers for Britain), Professor David Collins (International Economic Law, University of London), Edgar Miller (Managing Director of Palladian Limited;...
As the US general election approaches, it is very much in our interests on who wins, there are some people in the Conservative Party suggesting it would be beneficial for Joe Biden to be inaugurated and to walk into the White House on 20th January, following the US general election next week. However, I think there'd be nothing worse than Mr B...
By stating that the UK should prepare for a no-deal Brexit as both sides refused to compromise, the Rt Hon Michael Gove produced a shattering rebuke to Macron's hardliner posture over the negotiations. This change of tone from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster exhibits an overdue realisation that Britain must have a plan for all eventualitie...
Lockdown has absolutely crippled the economy and what for? We have a similar death rate to Sweden which never locked down, the average age of death from COVID in the UK is 82.4 when the average age of death for the UK as a whole is only 81.2. Not only that, what I would like to see published is the death rates from other illnesses such as cancer, h...
By Shanker Singham As the Agriculture Bill makes its way through Parliament, the UK faces a critical choice in its international trade policy. It is widely understood in trade circles that agriculture is the gate through which all trade policy flows. Long the bugbear of world trade, agricultural sectors all over the world have rigidly op...
By Jonathan Stanley Downing Street would have us believe we are making progress on a free trade deal with the EU. Beyond trying to give away as much of our fish as possible for as long as possible I'm not so sure. Ultimately the Irish border remains a big issue and the recent Internal Market Bill, badly marketed by No.10, only confirms this. ...
From Caesar to Hitler, why has every attempt to unify Europe failed? Indeed, the Third Reich only lasted seven years, while others endured for much longer, such as the Holy Roman Empire's reign, that lasted 1008 years. The idea of empires formed from different cultures is nothing new and has been around since Alexander the Great in 324 BC attempted...
As negotiations began the week of an EU summit on the 15th October, there was talk of the EU pressing their chief negotiator Michel Barnier to insist on tough enforcement rules for any UK trade deal. This came as a result of their shock to the Internal Market Bill, yet while any dispute resolution mechanism is normal for any trade deal, the words '...
Perpetual doom and gloom for British science as a result of uncertainty with our relationship with Europe is the mood in the FT this week. The paper recently reported that research and development (R&D) collaboration by British businesses under the EU's research grant scheme has halved since 2016. But contrary to the FT's personal Project Fear ...
wIf the past few weeks have shown us anything it is that if the EU still sees itself as a peace project, then its view of itself is as misguided as it's regard for international law. As threats from the Commission, mainly Maros Sefcovic, to look at 'all legal options' against the Internal Market bill grew, you can easily pass over the fact that the...
The Covid-19 crisis has brought to light a fundamental flaw within the European Union – there is one rule for Germany's state aid regime and another for the UK's. As such there is a fundamental need in negotiations this week to redress this flaw. Data shows that Germany made up for nearly 10% of all EU-authorised State Aid requests from April ...
Samuel Johnson famously said, 'when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life'. However, unlike S.Johnson, it seems that B.Johnson has succumbed to this, in light of the lack of news surrounding the future of our greatest financial asset, the City of London. Whilst the recent focus has been perpetually on State Aid and fishing rights, the City ...
By Catherine McBride On Friday the BBC headline news included an item entitled: Shoppers could pay more after no-deal Brexit. The story was planted by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) who said that tariffs would add £3.1bn a year to the cost of importing food and drink unless the UK and the EU can strike a free trade agreement. This was a ...
Link to initial article By Julian Jessop Brexit talks resumed this week with growing hopes that a trade deal can be done in time for the October EU summit. This follows speculation that the UK has softened its position after Boris Johnson was 'shocked by a London School of Economics report suggesting that no deal would cost Britain up to three time...
UK and Scottish Ministers were pressured by the Friends of the Earth to pass the Climate Change Acts. At Westminster, this was done in 2008 under New Labour, supported by all except 5 Ministers, and in Scotland, the following year. Again in December, the 2019 Climate Change (Emissions Reductions Targets) (Scotland) Act was passed - amending th...
People have asked whether the UK remains under EU defence policy during the transition.The answer is yes, the UK remains EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) until 31st December 2020. This policy is a general term which not only includes the common formation of decisions and strategy, it also describes the political-military stru...
Over the past week there have been announcements from Michael Gove regarding the provisions for international lorries leaving the UK after December 31st, something which apparently Macron's government sees as abhorrent. The labelling of these announcements as 'intimidation' by Clément Beaune, Macron's Europe Minister, further shows the EU's hypocri...
When you examine the history of America you find two waves of migration from Ireland. The first, the Scotch-Irish, were to the vanguard of creating and establishing schools, universities, banks and the United States of America itself (11 of the 45 US Presidents derive direct descent from). The second wave, a century later, of Irish emigration built...
Conservatism has changed face, meaning, and context in every stage of its evolution in British public life. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government has taken steps to solidify the party as a party of government, a far cry from its divisions over Europe just under a year ago. However, in the midst of a clearly different political env...
Boris Johnson: a Churchillian moment France political commentators have for months patiently waited for Boris Johnson to renegade on his promise to the electorate. They have sought to help him pretend that we have left the EU whilst keeping close ties with the superstructure. The European Union has sought to manipulate our exit from the get-go and ...
European technocrats and their British supporters have been left aghast by the government decision to present the Internal Market Bill, designed to protect the integrity of the United Kingdom. The remainer machinery, which has remained largely dormant over the past few months, has awaken in defence of international law and the United Kingdom's stan...
When all the numbers flipped noisily to zeros, at midnight 1999/2000, something happened away from the celebrations – plotted, prepared and planned. This was not the building of a New Jerusalem, but a distillation of chaos as a monstrous assembly of competing flawed visions, social experiments and technological expectations manifested as a darkness...
As reported in The Sunday Telegraph last week, and again today, some Treasury officials have been flirting with the idea of tax increases to foot the bill for the COVID measures put in place and for the lockdown that the left and media were so desperately pressuring for. However, according to several media sources, Number 10, Boris Johnson and Domi...
It is a quintessential British bonding experience to enjoy a joke at the expense of the French. In many ways, it has become an entrenched part of our national identity. However, even the truly gallophobic among us couldn't possibly believe that those who leave France for the United Kingdom should be classed as refugees. Refugees are displaced peopl...
Here are some facts that we believe need to be brought to the attention of the ISC: How many in government, at any level, are aware that the European Court of Human Rights declared that up to 5 years in prison awaiting, not just trial, but a prisoner's first appearance in a public hearing in open court, is perfectly legitimate, and a "reasonable ti...
Moralitis, A Cultural Virus - these films are an antidote to the collective malady that is woke ideology. Moralitis is at the centre of the culture war and cancel culture, its the cause of deluded social justice warriors. Watch and read about how we can treat and prevent this disease, a mental pathogen; so that we can save our civilisation, freedom...
The election of Erin O'Toole as the Canadian Tories' new leader demonstrates that value-based politics and value-based trading partnerships are truly possible. Erin O'Toole, previously his party's Shadow Foreign Minister, was one of the most vocal advocates in favour of a CANZUK (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom) alliance and ...
Returning children back to school in September is not political but the right thing to do; that's according to Gary Williamson, the under-fire education secretary who is – by the account of some Tory backbenchers – barely clinging to his cabinet position in the wake of his A-level grading debacle. Getting education back on track "is morally, ...
The Democratic Party's virtual convention should've been an attempt to unify the party. From moderates to progressives, I almost took it for granted that they would do everything to convince those on the left that Joe Biden was truly their candidate. However, apart from a few references to Medicare, evictions, and 'understanding', they have disappo...
For too long tradition and common sense have been marginalised by an illiberal elite, whose supposedly progressive ideology has degenerated into a collective mental malady. This treatise describes the virulent spread of 'woke' groupthink as Moralitis - a cultural virus. The symptoms of this disease include "corrupted rationalism, infantile reasonin...
"Sinne Fianna Fáil, Atá faoi gheall ag Eirinn" are the first two stanzas of Amhrán na bhFiann, Ireland's national anthem, and translates to "Soldiers are we, whose lives are pledged to Ireland". This is the essence of how Fianna Fail, the major party in Ireland's governing coalition, led by Taoiseach (PM) Micheal Martin, sees itself: as the purveyo...
As the fog dissipates, three things have become painfully clear: the algorithm Ofqual used to calculate this year's GCSE and A-level results did contain class bias, the so-called 'triple lock' actually secured nothing and over the course of lockdown the gap between state and independent schools has broadened beyond comprehension. If the debacl...
For over 40 years, New Zealand has been keen to engage, but Britain ignored their pleas. Finally, New Zealand can not only engage, but also be part of a bigger alliance – the CANZUK alliance. CANZUK is a largely economic alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK based on the principles of free trade and possibly free-er movement. ...
By Robert Oulds and Dr Niall McCrae, originally published on The Salisbury Review - https://www.salisburyreview.com/blog/chiswick-takes-the-knee/ On a sunny Saturday morning, the queue outside Waitrose on the main thoroughfare in Chiswick basked in a glow of self-satisfaction. Dozens of casually-dressed, trendy urbanites displayed their social...
The intolerance for right-wing values at British schools and on university campuses is well-documented and growing. Sadly, classroom bias is no new occurrence, but has become gradually more profound over the last 40 years, partly as a result of the mainstream political right's apathy towards challenging it. Needless to say, the Conservatives have g...
First published in The Critic by David Scullion https://thecritic.co.uk/no-escape-for-britain-brexit/ After concluding the latest round of Brexit talks, the UK's chief negotiator David Frost said, 'considerable gaps remain in the most difficult areas' and that on the sticking point of fisheries the EU has failed to understand that the UK position a...
It has long been said that if you aren't a socialist when you're young, you've got no heart; if you're still a socialist when you're old, you've got no head. Young people turn out in spades to support the Labour party at every local, regional and national election. There are many contributing factors; however, the politics of their teachers is the ...
Marathon talks have concluded between EU leaders as they battled over the details of its multibillion-euro pandemic recovery fund. With France and Germany head-to-head against the frugal four of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden over grants, veto rights and funding criteria, you could be mistaken for seeing the talks as the break-up of t...
In the aftermath of the British exit from the EU, the concept of CANZUK, a largely economic alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, all of which have the monarchy, the same common law systems, and parliamentary democracy, among others. However, the question remains, what has stopped these four countries, throughout ...
This generation has seen a significant shift in the attitudes towards a university education, with an increase of 1 in 50 students going to university in 1960, to 1 in 2 in recent years. We can attribute this meteoric rise in new graduates to a marked cultural shift away from the respectability of manual labour and local trades, to a university edu...
Shamima Begum left London to join the Islamic state, with two other schoolgirls, in 2015. She has been a controversial topic in the court of public opinion as of late with deeply polarised attitudes prevailing on both sides of the political spectrum. One can see why the very mention of her name sparks strong opinion, after having said in her interv...
University for me was my ultimate goal, I from an early age knew that University is where I wanted to end up, I had great expectations for it, particularly my course which was naturally for me, politics. What I ended up seeing was roughly what I expected, but still shocked me, nonetheless. My first semester as a politics student was essentially spe...
Brexit may have gone quiet lately in the mainstream media, but between now and the end of October will be critical. Remain have been defeated in trying to keep us in the EU, their plans for a 'People's Vote' have been defeated, and their attempts to extend the transition period have been defeated. Their last hope is that between now and October our...
For years Labour have made a great show of championing equality, yet there is a vicious breed of left-winger that reacts negatively toward people of colour who dare to believe in something other than socialism. Sajid Javid's appointment as the first ethnic minority Briton to a Great Office of State should have been universally celebrated. Instead, ...
In July 1988, a Gallup poll brought grim news for the campaign of George H.W. Bush. Conducted on 21st and 22nd of the same month, the survey found that the then Vice-President was trailing his Democratic challenger, Michael Dukakis, by 17 points - 38-55. Even worse for the Bush camp, it was far from the only poll that year which indicated that the ...
The Defund The BBC campaign launched last month with the aim of decriminalising failure to pay the TV licence fee by the end of 2020 and reducing its remit to cover BBC content only, rather than all Live channels. The campaign has enabled a much-needed debate about the BBC's role in modern Britain and, should it succeed, we can expect to see a much...
Shortly after the results of the second round of the Polish Presidential Election were confirmed by the National Electoral Commission, a Polish Pilgrim journeyed to the Jasna Góra Monastery in the southern Polish province of Silesia; home to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. Since the Middle Ages, the Monastery has been a destination ...
Professor Patrick Minford and The Bruges Group are rightly calling to: Cut corporation tax by 10%: £32 billionAbolish the very top additional 5% rate: £1 billionCut the top rate of income tax to 30%: £15 billion.Cut the standard rate of income tax by 5%: £28 billion. The history of tax cuts in the United States demonstrates why these proposals will...
There's no denying the fact, kratom is having a major moment right now. From being labeled as the most toxic plant in the world to being used as a weight-loss medicine, kratom has had its journey. Its global popularity has encouraged many young entrepreneurs to cultivate this plant and start their kratom business. If you sift through the internet, ...
The week before last, the Minister of State for Universities, Michelle Donelan, announced that EU, EEA and Swiss nationals will no longer be granted home fee status and access to student loans at universities in England from 2021. While the move should not have come as any real shock to those properly following the Brexit saga, the decision has bee...
Having experienced the entire process of leaving the EU since the Maastricht rebellion, through to the passing of the sovereignty clause, Section 38 of the Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020, including the result of the referendum itself, I am thoroughly aware that there must be no ECJ jurisdiction after 31 December 2020. The Governm...
The challenges and the opportunities With the speakers; - Rt. Hon. Sir John Redwood MP- Tim Congdon CBE- Professor Patrick Minford CBE- Dr. Gerard Lyons Professor Tim Congdon CBE:Are Eurozone Trends in Public Debt and Financial Imbalance Unsustainable? Quotations from the April 2020 ECB Economic Bulletin 1. "…th...
Roland Vaubel Professor emeritus of Economics Universitaet Mannheim Germany Mr. Barnier seems to misunderstand the argument for maintaining a level playing field. The laws of a country, above all, ought to reflect the preferences of its people. It follows that the laws ought to differ between countries if, and to the extent that, the preferences of...
Every year the International Council for the for the Exploration of the Sea and the European Union's Scientific, Technical and Economic Council for Fisheries make a suggestion of what the TAC should be for each stock. A stock of fish refers to a "particular species of fish caught in a particular geographic area". The European Commission drafts a pr...
On Friday the European Commission admitted that the Brexit transition period will not be extended, and that Britain must now prepare to police the border in the Irish Sea. In a meeting of the joint committee on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, Michael Gove told Maros Sefcovic, a vice-president for the commission, that the UK wou...
By Alex Johnson It is often said that all good things come to those who wait. Whilst patience is indeed a virtue, it is not always a profitable one. With the Brexit negotiations deadline being the 31st December this year and with enough delays already being made since the 2016 referendum, time is running short. When one realises that it has b...
By Victor Hill, first published on Master Investor The UK-EU Trade Talks – Why the pandemic has changed everything - Master Investor By Victor Hill https://masterinvestor.co.uk/economics/the-uk-eu-trade-talks-why-the-pandemic-has-changed-everything/ The Road to No Deal While Europe and the world have been monopolised by the Covid-19 pa...
There is a strange thing when it comes to the politics of the right and left, many on the moderate right believe strongly in democracy, freedom of speech and little state control allowing people to get on with their lives without interference, as long as they do not break the law and do no harm to others and their property. However, those on the le...
Black lives matter, so do white lives, Chinese, Asian and the lives of every indigenous population on our planet, they all matter equally, no one race should say their lives matter more than any other. Sadly, the Marxists who have organised the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign and those alleged celebrities who like to jump on any trendy, political...
Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech to the College of Europe in September 1988 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqv8HF84EOs&t=1s The Bruges Group was set up in 1989 in honour of one speech, a now landmark address made by our then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the College of Europe on 20th September 1988 on the 'Future of Europe'. L...
There has been a telling change recently in the language used to describe the current status of the UK. Both Leavers and Remainers have dropped the pretence that Brexit happened on 31st January and are now openly referring to the 31st December as the date when the UK leaves the EU. While 31st January was the symbolic exit, the country has not in fa...
The absence of a pan-European fiscal union combined with the departure of the United Kingdom have left European finances is disarray. This has been exacerbated by a crisis that has sown divisions in a frail union with poorer states demanding that richer countries foot the bill to save the Union. When Germany's constitutional court questioned t...
During this pandemic, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't always get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I will publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about some polit...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't always get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting fa...
Almost four years after we voted to leave the European Union (EU), Boris Johnson delivered on his promise to 'GET BREXIT DONE'. Little did we know at the time (on 31st January 2020) that the year was going to bring its own woes, which are now threatening to bring down the European dream of unity, solidarity, and borderless territory. In addition to...
In this enlightening new book, Robert Oulds and Niall McCrae examine the causes, symptoms and methods of prevention and treatment of 'moralitis', a delusional condition caused by cultural Marxism.The body politic has become infected. Like the growth of bacteria in a Petri dish, the subversive tenets of cultural Marxism have spread as a pinking of t...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
Institute of International Monetary Research Analysis Professor Tim Congdon CBE is a member of The Bruges Group Academic Advisory Council A lot of interest has been drawn from my recent emails to my fellow macroeconomists and monetary analysts where I pointed out that bank deposits at US commercial banks soared in the fortnight to 2...
First published by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/05/06/longer-brexit-transition-pointless-dangerous-plays-straight/ Sir Nick Clegg is right. The terms of the Brexit transition are intolerable. They were bad for one year. The arrangement becomes progressively more dangerous over time. ...
The Cummingsaffairfollowed a pattern familiar to those who have observed the Brexit process, since David Cameron announced the referendum. The pro EU media assisted by the civil service have lied, invented, threatened and twisted their way to what should have been ignominy. They have escaped that fate. Indeed, support from the Supreme Court's decis...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
First of all, may I say congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds who announced the birth of a healthy baby boy this morning, just after 10 am. It emerged last week that Britain would neither apply for, nor accept an extension, if offered, to the Brexit transition period from the EU. In his briefings, Chancellor Rishi Sunak set the ...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
There have always been differences that have existed within the Conservatives. But this recent general election, which saw swathes of working-class communities join the blue collar Conservative fold, has been the perfect opportunity for the Party to go back to its traditional, community orientated roots, (and in many ways it has). These roots are a...
Those fond of disasters unhesitatingly claim that the seeds of the next catastrophe are created in the current one. One can understand the theory. Tulip Mania, the South Sea; Mississippi; Junk Bond and Dot-Com Bubbles are all examples of feverish speculation gone wrong. The problem does not, however, lie solely with get rich quick dreamers and spiv...
COVID-19: The Exposure of the EU's Failings - Bruges Group Blog By Ethan Thoburn https://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/covid-19-the-exposure-of-the-eu-s-failings The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health emergency that in less than 6 months has brought the entire world to a screeching halt. From the deserted streets of Milan to a state of total loc...
Due to current global events everything is changing. For the people of the United Kingdom, this means that there is a very real chance that the incredibly important Brexit deadline could unfortunately be delayed. An idea entertained in 2013, voted on in 2016 and finally realised earlier this year, the UK is still far from being really free from the...
The internet is full of conspiracy theories about the pandemic and blame aimed at shadowy elites, bankers, secret societies, national leaders and so on, all based on the political prejudices of those formulating or sharing the theories as if fact. These are a not very amusing distraction from lockdown, pictures of kittens, today's lunch, or even po...
Since the Eurozone crisis nearly a decade ago, the dysfunction of European governments has long been a point of contention for the United Kingdom. Even as it's Mediterranean partners; Greece, Spain and Portugal descended into a depression, most European leaders seemed indecisive and undecided on a suitable course of action. Now with more than ...
There is a lot of huff and puff today because the European Union failed to agree on a rescue package – there will be no bonds to bail out the superstructure and worst they have had to resort to accepting junk bonds as collateral because Italy will be downgraded. They cannot afford to lose the United Kingdom's budgetary contribution. The European Un...
The UK has been a leading shipping hub, and its EU membership has profoundly enhanced its role in trade. However, on 29nth March 2017, the UK submitted its willingness to withdraw from the UE operations (Brexit), meaning that it will now become the third party according to the EU rules. Shipping will be one of the greatly affected sectors sinc...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
Ian Gow: Eminent Thatcherites by The Bruges Group - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwPRnfTdfVk&t=2s During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is polit...
- A Statement from the Bruges Group -The news that Boris Johnson was admitted to ICU on Monday evening came as aprofound shock and the Bruges Group joins the entire nation in sending amessage of support to Boris, Carrie and their family. Our thoughts, prayersand best wishes are with them all at this challenging time.The Prime Minister's dedic...
Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech, 1988 on The Bruges Group YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqv8HF84EOs Today marks the death of our greatest peacetime leader, Margaret Thatcher, a woman who defined British politics for more than a generation. Elected as the first female leader of any major political party in the UK in 1975, su...
Just yesterday, the EU's President of the European Research Council, Mauro Ferrari, resigned over the EU's failure to act on his advice to set up a large scale, EU wide programme to combat COVID-19. Professor Ferrari only began the role at the turn of the year and submitted his resignation to the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen...
Airey Neave: Eminent Thatcherites by The Bruges Group - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsnd8ESIktA During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political ...
This is a letter to an old friend from my undergraduate days, who went on to be a distinguished economist, describing the EU situation today. I am publishing this letter today, nine years after I first wrote it, just after receiving the news of the anger in Southern Eurozone countries against Northern Eurozone countries, when the latter showed unwi...
Last Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, celebrated 28 days in Number 11, following Sajid Javid's resignation, by presenting his budget to the House. This budget delivered by the Richmond MP is arguably the most favourable budget since the days of Nigel Lawson standing at the dispatch box outlining his financial forecasts and s...
If I had to attribute my entry onto the political stage to any individuals, it would be Mark Carney, George Osborne and Theresa May. Not because I was inspired by any of them but as a result, in the case Mrs. May, of her total ineptitude over Brexit and, in the case of the first two, the inordinate amount of nonsense they spouted in the run-up to a...
Analysis by Prof MLR Smith & Dr Niall McCrae Before the coronavirus pandemic, who knew that the country with the largest Chinese diaspora in Europe is Italy? The leather sofa in many a British living room may have arrived with the label 'Made in Italy' but was quite possibly sewn by Chinese hands in the employ of a Chinese company. Let us expla...
One would be forgiven if they only half-heartedly pledged their support to Boris Johnson after he stated that he would get Brexit done. So far, the bill has made it through parliament without a hitch and the 31st January 2020 was a celebratory moment…until Coronavirus. Death tolls are rising throughout the world as countries fail to contain the spr...
Until recently, the ECHR was regarded as a holy cow, to be revered by all. In fact, there was never any call on, or by, any UK government up to and including Theresa May's, to withdraw the UK from the European Convention or Court of Human Rights. The only criticisms were a certain amount of – well justified – harrumphing in recent years t...
First do no harm, states the Hippocratic Oath. In the coronavirus pandemic, medical experts here and in several European countries prescribed lockdown. Yet this was not evidence-based practice, and it may indeed have been more harmful than the virus itself. In hospitals across the country, doctors and nurses are working tirelessly as a surge of cor...
You may remember reading last week that a group of jihadists known as the Beatles had scored a Supreme Court victory over the Home Secretary. To remind you what it was all about, the Beatles were a charming group of ISIS zealots who had specialised in beheadings, torture and other yet more gruesome activities best not mentioned here, whom US forces...
I would like to share with you the speech and presentation I made at The Bruges Group annual conference in London on the 7th March. Whilst the UK officially left the EU on 31 January, it remains in its Single Market [paying some £1 billion (net) a month], its Customs Union and subject to the supremacy of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJ...
Brexit has been the key topic of conversation for many people over the last three years, and since the deal was finalised towards the end of January, the property market has seen a huge increase due to market stability and confidence with investment. Those who are looking at UK property may find the impact of Brexit on the property market highly in...
